


carved inside my heart (is a space for you)

by HogwartsToAlexandria



Series: Stony Week 2019 [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Genderfluid Character, M/M, Stony Week 2019, Tony Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-24 00:23:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19162015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HogwartsToAlexandria/pseuds/HogwartsToAlexandria
Summary: When it comes to discreet acceptance Steve's got just what Tony needs. Or when small, everyday things go a long way.Stony Week day #2 - june 10th, prompt #2: “good morning, beloved”Stony Bingo 2019 Fill, O3: "Free Space"





	carved inside my heart (is a space for you)

**Author's Note:**

> Second entry for the Stony week! It was betad by the awesome QueenMaeve again, thank you dear!!
> 
> And with another day comes another flag, today for Genderfluid Tony!
> 
> 💖💟💜🖤💙

“Beloved” 

Beloved was the term Steve had decided would be his nickname for Tony. It fit, he’d said. Because he could use it no matter what day it was and he didn’t mean whether it was Monday or Christmas. 

Beloved didn’t have a gender and neither did Tony, not a definitive one at least, not one that they could stick on their forehead and embrace as theirs for any day of any week of forever. It didn’t work that way, or at least they didn’t. Most did, sure, but when did Tony Stark ever do anything like “most” people? 

Turns out their struggle with who they were, with accepting it and revealing it to others around them was something “most” people like them went through, so there was that at least. Originality got boring when you were lonely. 

Steve never questioned it.

You’d think he might, having lived in the 1940s and all but no, he never did question Tony’s word or identity. He listened, carefully. He smiled, gently, reassuringly. Then he did his research, discreetly and diligently.

The next time Tony saw him after they’d come out to him, Steve used different pronouns. 

The next time Tony came out to someone and Steve had an occasion to talk about Tony in the way he knew Tony needed, Steve was able to do it without outing them and both of them grinned. “They” had never felt this good. 

It’s not like it hurt to be called something else because Tony had days. Days where a he with nothing attached to it was okay, where they felt good with the way their parents had decided for them, the manly man way. And then other days, where they wished their appearance would allow for people to see them as a she and even if they apologized for it later, thinking they’d been mistaken, Tony would still have the opportunity to hear it - she. 

Most days they were okay with it, some they spent avoiding mirrors and that was the end of it but others...thank God for Steve and his reassuring words, the look of never-ending praise in his eyes and the gentle desire that made his hands strong and grounding on Tony's skin. 

Beloved was the middle-ground that would always give Tony what they needed and no one around would question it. Steve could say it, whisper it, sing it, no matter who was in the room, no matter how many ears and eyes witnessed the scene. And Tony smiled. 

"Good morning, beloved." 

It was simple and yet it was everything. It was Tony waking up every day with a smile on their face and in their heart, the knowledge that they had something good in this world, something they didn't think they would ever have before Steve happened. 

Out of the ice and out of the closet. Two apparently distinct events and yet forever linked in intricacies that meant Tony was happy. 

Beloved, and the super soldier of their heart. 

**Author's Note:**

> See you tomorrow for more! 
> 
> Also, find me on [Tumblr!](http://hogwartstoalexandria.tumblr.com)


End file.
